The curious case of 'Zula and Princess Azula
by DavidAlatriste
Summary: There had always been two Fire Nation Princesses. It was only many years later there was only one.


_I'm the Firebender of the Ember Island Eel Hounds and my prompts are: (Object) mirror, (sound) laughter and (quote) "If we are completely honest with ourselves, everyone has a dark side to their personalities" from Isabella Rossellini. Word Count: 1,577._

Unbeknownst to the world, The Fire Nation had two princesses: Princess Azula; The Conqueror of Ba Sing Se, who was such a fearless leader and such a ruthless fighter the Dai Lee, the elite guard of the Earth Kingdom, had chosen to betray their country and everything they had sworn to protect in order to serve her and the Fire Nation Throne she now was to inherit after Ozai passed away. And everyone in the Fire Nation was expecting that the Fire Lord would one day, soon, be found to have slipped backwards into a knife.

Yet beneath all this scheming and the façade of evilness, there was 'Zula.

'Zula had always been there but nobody but Ty Lee seemed to notice her, everyone thought there was only Princess Azula and her ever-menacing presence; when in fact 'Zula was just as amazing and cool as Princess Azula just in different ways.

The Princess could master the hardest firebending forms without breaking a sweat and 'Zula could sit down and appreciate a sunset and beat poets on describing the colors of the evening light; The Princess could scheme and strategize as easy as breathing and 'Zula could paint all the people from her father's court by heart after just a few looks with such a mesmerizing precision it was like if she had frozen them in the canvas, and knowing The Princess she would've out done that out of pure fear of her.

Ty Lee had once tried to show how great 'Zula was by showing the Fire Lord a panting of him and his frightening visage perfectly plastered on reds, black and crimsons.

His reaction? He just chuckled and said "You poor thing. Impressed by so little. Of course she would be this skillful, anyone with the time can sit down and draw, which is why this nation is ruled by us and not some painter and his apprentices."

That was so mean of him! How could he be so blind as to scoff off a master piece like this? Even to this day, decades from that moment Ty Lee would still get mad at how her father despised art like if it was that simple.

After the war, Zuko's betrayal and Sozin's comet Ty Lee had joined the Kyoshi Warriors due to her belief that 'Zula was dead. She had to be for Princess Azula to actually consider killing Mei, one of the few friends they had.

But one day she got she got a postcard that just said:

 _Remember that time I threw Mei and Zuko to the fountain? Well, let's just say I'm sorry-'Zula_

Oh she remembered how when Ursa had reprimanded Azula, Ty Lee had made such a point in defending Azula that Ursa gave her a cookie for 'a valiant defense of the in defendable' which had only made Ty Lee mad. And that's when it sparked to her the why of that comment.

That night 'Zula told her that she was tired of The Princess; she was tired of it all: The Royal Life, The Royal Palace, The Royal Court, The Royal School where she was pressed into excelling just 'cause she was the Firelord's daughter; not his heir, not his child, his daughter.

 _"_ _It's such a cold word: Daughter"_ Ty Lee had a flashback to that day " _Where's the love in that? Where's the ME in that? Why do I have to be what they say and not me? I know it's stupid but I just wonder the day someone will ask me for me, the day someone will care for me because I'm their little girl or their loved one, not just because they're duty-bound to look after The Most Excellent Fire Princess Azula_ "

 _"_ _Well, I do care for you 'Zula! You're so great doing those paintings I think that you could live comfortably in Ember Island off of that"_ Ty Lee said to a mirror that was in front of where she had sat to read the letter, the memory playing still on the background, two little girls talking past their bed time about other lives and what they would do in them _"And let's not even bring in the poems or the songs you can write! You'd be the greatest artist ever. You'd put them all to shame!"_

"But you're dead" Ty Lee told herself as the flashback died down "You vanished into the Spirit World and nobody found you. The Avatar was never able to find you or your body"

Yet, as she told this to herself, Ty Lee started to pack up and planning where in Ember Island would she start her search for her beloved 'Zula.

Because after all this years, all she had done and seen, all she had been through, Ty Lee still had that 14 year-old crush on her royal friend that made the butterflies in her stomach want to start a hurricane in her insides.

Finding 'Zula was tricky because the whole time Ty Lee searched like if she was trying to find Princess Azula, and after 5 days of search she face palmed as it clicked that if she was here, Azula was here as 'Zula.

But where in this world that had made her go insane was she going to find 'Zula?

The answer came to her after a week on Ember Island, as she wondered the streets at night, the sound of laughter leading her to a theater. The same company that used to perform Love amongst the Dragons when they were little was doing a new thing this season: A comedy of 3 women living together in an apartment in Ba Sing Se.

She thought none of that with all that had been happening in the last 20 years of cultural integration until she actually saw the thing: It was them. It was Mei, Azula and herself when they infiltrated the Earth King's court, dumbed down and edited so neither the spying and turning the Dai Lee's or the palpable sexual tension between her and 'Zula showed up in the comedy.

She still laughed but she laughed at the memories of Mei getting her makeup off, of 'Zula getting hit on and then having a boy fetch her tea like if he was a dog, of herself trying to impress the King by doing one-finger push-ups while Bosco played, not the play.

'Zula had been here, that was her start. She now needed to find the writer.

-0-

Easier said than done, for as a month later she still hadn't found her yet. Turns out the play was submitted on the condition of anonymity by the Duke of Ember Island on behalf of someone he was patron of. She couldn't go talk to that man because of a discussion between her father and him when she was born.

Because only nobles would hold 30 year-old grudges against the others family for something as petty as an offhanded remark that with 7 identical daughters, Ty Lee's father set was complete. Even she agreed on that, for crying out loud!

Ty Lee came to the conclusion she needed to sneak in to the manor and talk to him, explain to Zuko's right-hand she needed to talk to the play writer. That she had been summoned by her 20+ crush that she would've married had she been open to that. Ty Lee could only hope the man wasn't a conservative zealot.

-0-

She sneaked into the manor on a full moon night, hopeful and scared in equal parts, but her need to find 'Zula greater than ever before as she heard laughter coming from the house of the Duke. She came up close to the house as a female voice finished a story that had entertained the Lord of Ember Island and eavesdropped crouching by a closed sliding door that lead to the manor's main courtyard.

"If we are completely honest with ourselves, everyone has a dark side to their personalities" a female voice that Ty Lee wasn't that of the Duke's wife as he was Fire Nation's most eligible bachelor said.

"Did she really said and went through all that just to get you in bed, tied down? She never thought just asking?" the Duke asked, his voice breaking with laughter.

"Oh yeah. Ty has never really been a smart cookie, but hey, that lingerie existed only for her to wear. I swear to you, Daeron, made for her and her alone" and with that the door opened to reveal Azula, not a day over twenty-five staring down at her.

"Those 50,000 yuans are mine" 'Zula raised her fist in victory

"Whatever. Thanks to you I'm even more rotten rich than what I was when I was born, and I'm only getting 5% of the tickets" the Duke said "Ty Lee, you could've knocked. I'm way beyond that grudge"

"It's been too long, my dear." 'Zula kneeled down until she was in eye-level with her and without even putting thought to it; Ty Lee kissed her wholly and wantonly.

"So long" was all Ty Lee could muster to think as a thousand emotions rushed through her being.

"Come inside, there's a lot to talk about" 'Zula invited her into the house with something that not in a million years would anyone think they'd seen from Princess Azula: A smile. A warm smile that spoke of the great joy Azula was feeling right now, reunited with her loved one.


End file.
